(1) Field of the Invention
This invention is concerned with shoe upper conforming machines, more especially shoe upper conforming machines for use in the lasting of side portions of shoes, or shoe upper conforming machines for use in the lasting of heel seat and side portions of shoes. The word "shoe" where used herein is used generically as indicating outer footwear generally, and as including articles of outer footwear in the course of their manufacture.
(2) Prior Art
Shoe upper conforming machines for use in lasting side portions of shoes are known comprising a last support for supporting a shoe last on which a shoe upper and insole are positioned, clamping means, comprising two pad members disposed one at each side of the last support and arranged to engage a shoe upper at opposite sides thereof and to clamp it against its last supported by the last support, drive means for moving said pad members towards the last support to engage and clamp the upper as aforesaid, and two side lasting assembles arranged so as to act on opposite side portions of the upper clamped as aforesaid to wipe marginal portions of said upper over and press them against corresponding marginal portions of the insole. One such machine, the clamping means of which comprises a row of pad members arranged side-by-side, is described in the specification of our U.S. application Ser. No. 134,459.
In the machine described in said specification, furthermore, the side lasting assemblies each comprise a plurality of wiping elements, in the form of fingers, the arrangement being such that the clamp pad members and their associated wiping fingers, which are arranged above the clamp pad members, are moved together by the drive means towards the last support, the arrangement being such that when the clamping means has engaged and clamped the upper against its last, the movement of the wiping fingers continues to wipe the lasting marginal portions of the upper over and press them against corresponding marginal portions of the insole. While this arrangement of clamp pad members and wiping fingers is satisfactory for a large proportion of shoes manufactured, nevertheless the situation may arise where it is difficult with this construction and arrangement to cause the material of the upper to lie snugly against the last especially in the shank region; this arises for example with shoes in which the side of the last is cut away steeply in that region and is usually associated with shoes the insole of which has a narrow shank portion in relation to the remainder thereof. Thus, in operating on such shoes, it is often found that after lasting the sides of the shoe in the shank region have excess material, giving rise to a "baggy" appearance.
In machines similar to the aforementioned machine it has been proposed to provide so-called breast line grippers by which the lasting marginal portions of the upper can be gripped in the region of the breast line thereof (or at the heelward end of the side lasting assemblies), for the purpose of drawing the excess material heightwise of the last prior to the clamping and lasting of the shoe as aforesaid. Using breast line grippers, however, gives rise to the problem of feeding the lasting marginal portions into the open grippers, which is time-consuming, and also the provision of the breast line grippers and actuating means therefor significantly increases the total cost of the machine.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a shoe upper conforming machine for use in lasting side portions of shoes in the operation of which the aforementioned problem of excess material especially in the shank region can be mitigated without significantly increasing the overall cost of the machine, and also without requiring an extra operation on the part of the operator.